University of Virginia Library

On Closed Circuit

Ruggers Host Title Bout

By Bill Nachman

Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

March 8 will be an evening not
long forgotten by the boxing
enthusiasts of the University. On
that night heavyweights
Muhammed All and Joe Frazier will
tangle in a 15 round affair at
Madison Square Garden, and closed
circuit television will bring the bout
to U Hall.

Much planning and negotiations
have gone into bringing a major
sports endeavor of such great
caliber to Charlottesville. Behind
the venture is the Virginia Rugby
Football Club, under the
presidency of newly licensed fight
promoter Jay Waldron.

The fight is being sponsored
initially by Jack Kent Cooke,
owner of such enterprises as the
Los Angeles Kings of the National
Hockey League, and Jerry
Perenchio, a promoter. Perenchio's
promoting was to the tune of 2.5
million dollars for both All and
Frazier, which has already been
deposited on account at the Chase
Manhattan Bank in New York City.

Closed Circuit Rights

Step two involves closed circuit
television rights. The clincher here
is that the fight positively will not
be aired on the radio, seen the
following Saturday on ABC's Wide
World of Sports (as is usually done
with heavy-weight encounters of
significance), or later shown in a
newsreel. Of course if one is willing
to wait awhile a movie might be
made, but it could be a rather long
wait. GUTS, a syndicate headed by
such notables as Andy Williams, is
in on 35 per cent of the action
here, with shrewd Perenchio dealing
the other 65 percent to himself and
to Mr. Cooke.

Rugby Club Efforts

GUTS then proceeded to
localize their efforts. The Richard
Bridges Agency of Atlanta was
selected to handle the southern
region of the country. It was to this
agency that the Virginia Rugby
Club directed their efforts. "Bridges
is a reputable firm," said Mr.
Waldron, "as can be attested to
their handling the Beatles' tour of
the southern states several years
ago. Also, the very popular James
Taylor currently does a lot of work
for them."

Sunday evening Max Johnson, a
promoter for the Bridges outfit and
also the handler of the ever-popular
pianist Liberace, met with Mr.
Waldron and Jim Bledsoe, another
representative for the Rugby Club.
A third key figure for Virginia,
Tom Furniss, was unable to attend
the meeting at the Downtowner
Motor Inn. At that time
percentages, seating, tickets,
equipment and other necessary
details were discussed before any
contracts could be drawn up. A
definite factor for the ruggers was
their procurement of University
Hall.

"We were surprised to learn,"
said Mr. Waldron," that Bridges was
only receiving 20 percent of the
35% GUTS figure. Further, the
Club found it was splitting the
Bridges percent for a mere 3.5
percent of the actual monies
involved.